Closure for wall-recesses.



J. C. BEACH.

CLOSURE FOR WALL RECESSES.

APPLICAHON FILED SEPT. 8. m5.

1,200,694. Patented 001;. 10,1916.

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.i. C. BEACH.

CLOSURE FOR WALL RECESSES.

APPLCAHON FILED SEPT. 13, I915.

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ATTORNEY PATEN oFroF.

JOHN c. BEACH, OF SAN FRANCIsCo, CALIFC 'IA, AssIeNo T0 LACnI/IAN WALLBED COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCIsCo, CALIFCRNIA, A CoRFoRArIoN 0F CALIFoRNIA.

CLOSURE FOR WALL-BECESSES.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented (Jet. 10, 1916.

Application filed September d, 1915. Serial No. 49,500.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. BEACH, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Closures forWall-Recesses, of which the following is a specification.

, ,This invention relates to closets or recesses, wherein a wall-bed, orthe like, is stored; and the object of the same is to pro- .vide animproved and simplified closure therefor. In carrying out this object Iemploy a pair of endwise swinging doors fitted flush in the opening insaid closet and adapted to contain on their front surfaces mirrors orother useful devices; an improved and simplified multiple pivotalmounting for .the doors whereby the latter may be swung to open positionin a minimum of space, still retaining the device on the front thereofexposed for use; said pivotal mounting being such as to permit the doorsto be opened a distance of 90 and entirely clear the doorway, as isdesirable where a right angular wall is located adjacent to the doorwayor where it is desired to utilize the doorsas Shields or side pieces forthe extendedv bed, and an improved and Sim.-

plified latch device for yieldingly retaining the doors in closedposition.

One form which my invention may as sume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 shows a rear elevation of the closure applied to a closet orrecess and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows a sectional view takenon the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a view similar to Fig. 2, of aportion of one of the doors, illustrating the same by dotted lines invarious positions of movement and by full lines in open position. Fig. 4shows a sectional view taken on the line lp-4 of Fig. 1, and illustratesthe manner of unlatching the doors. Fig. 5'shows a detail view inperspective of the pivotal mounting for one of the doors. Fig. 6 shows adetail, sectional view of the latch device employed. Fig. 7 shows theconnection between two of the pivotal members employed in the doormounting, and Fig. 8 shows a fragmentary section of one of the doors inopen position, lying against a right angular wall adjacent to thedoorway.

Referring in detail to the form of my invention illustrated herewith,there is shown a recess or closet 10, formed in the walls 11 of thebuilding, and closed by means of doors 12 and 13 fitted flush in thedoorway or opening thereof. I Each of said doors carries a stop device14;. The hinge or pivotal mounting for the doors comprise, in each case,a pair of bearings 15 secured to the rear surface of the door invertical alinement, preferably to one side of the central line thereof,and within said bearings is mounted the vertical rod 16 of a large bailshaped member 16 said rod being held against longitudinal movement inthe bearings by means of shoulders 17.

The bail shaped member 16 is provided with horizontally extending arms18 pivotallyconnected to clips 19, carried on the vertical portion 20 ofa second and smaller bail shaped member 21, said last mentioned bailshaped .member having its horizontal arms 22 pivoted in bifurcated shortlinks 23, which links are imturn pivotally mounted and on a pintle 24:carried in brackets 25 secured to the side wall 26 of the closet orrecess a short distance from the front thereof. Stay rods 27 extendingdiagonally of the large bail shaped member 16 and connected by means ofa turnbuckle 28 form an adjustable reinforcing means for said member.The. rods 27 extend from the outer end of theupper arm 18 to the innerend of the lower arm, and by tightening the buckle 28 the vertical rod16 of the bailshaped member may be moved upwardly, the

upper, bend or corner thereof yielding to permit such movement. Thus thefit of the doors in the doorway can be adjusted. For this reason, thearms of the bail 16 are made longer than the arms of the bail 20. Amirror or other useful device is set in or attached to the front face 29of each door.

Within the closet is shown a folded bed 30, which in width issubstantially equal to the width ofthe doorway or opening, and thereforeit is important and necessary that the doors open in such a way as toexpose the full width of the opening, and likewise desirable that thefront face of each door be disposed outwardly at all times to presentthe mirror or other device thereon for constant use. The doors whereused in pairs should abut each other, and I provide a stop 31 attachedto the door 12 and overlapping the other door to interlock them when inclosed position. Only one of the doors therefore requires a latch deviceand this I apply to the door 13 which does not carry the central stopdevice. The latch isin the form of a spring pressed ball 32 carried in akeeper 33 sunk in the door jamb and normally projecting a slightdistance outward where a depression formed in a plate 34 carried by thedoor cooperates therewith to retain the door yieldingly in closedposition. In order to open the door 12, it is necessary that the same bemoved inwardly a slight distance to clear it from the door jamb, andthis initial inward movement will be prevented by the door 13. Hence thesingle catch will serve the double function of latching both doors.However, I may apply the latch device to both doors, so that should itbe desired to open the door 13 alone, the door 12 can be kept in closedposition independently thereof. On the links 23 and brackets 25 I affixlimiting lugs 35, which prevent buifeting of the door against the walland adjacent parts. In the operation of this device the door 13 is firstpushed into the recess or closet at its inner end as shown in Fig. 4,swinging about its pivotal member 16, thus freeing its outer end fromthe jamb. The door may then be swung first on its pivot 24 then on itspivotal connection between the bail 22 and links 23, as shown in dottedline positions A and B in Fig. 3, then from the dotted line position Bof said figure, the door is free to swing endwise about its pivotalconnections .19 until it reaches a position with its rear face lyingfiat against the adjacent wall as shown in full lines Fig. 8. Byproviding the intermediate set of pivotal members much less space isrequired in front of the doorway in which to move the door to openposition, and where a corner wall 36 is present, as shown in Fig. 8,said pivotal member permits the door to be moved into engagement withsuch wall and entirely clear the doorway so that the bed may be readilywithdrawn from the closet without obstruction. The door 13 being open,the other door 12 is then free to be opened in the same manner.

When a door has been moved to open position the links 23 will have movedthrough 90, and will be projected outwardly a short distance beyond thefront face of the wall, thus permit-ting the bail members to lie flatlyagainst said wall in the rear of the door, and on account of thepresence of the links 23 it is desirable that the pivotal mounting ofthe vertical portion 16 of the bail member l6 be to one side of thecentral line of the door and thereby when the door is moved to openposition and the links 23 occupy right angular positions with the bailmembers the edge of the door, adjacent the doorway, will lie to one sidethereof and leave the closet or recess open throughout its full width.Where desired both doors may be opened after the manner shown in Fig. 8,that is a distance of 90, and in this position serve as shields or sidepieces for the head of the extended bed.

It will be noted that when a door is in either open or closed positionthe front face thereof is exposed outwardly, and should it be desired tovary the angular position of the door in order to obtain the properlight rays, as where a mirror is carried thereby, this may be done inany intermediate position of the movement of the door by turning thelatter on its pivotal connections. I find a closure of this constructionto be admirably adapted for use in wall recesses containing beds, forthe reason that a flush fit is attainable, making the presence of thecloset recess unnoticeable. The capability of the doors to clear theopening even where a right angular wall is present is a feature ofparticular advantage in this use. The presence of mirrors in the doorsfurther obscures the appearance of the closet and it therefore becomesimportant to have the mirrored face of the doors exposed for use at alltimes, and likewise angularly adjustable to suit the conditions of thelight. Obviously one door may be used in place of the two shown and givethe same operation and advantages; other modifications may be em ployedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention, as disclosed in theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A closure for a wall recess, comprising an endwiseswinging door lying flush in the opening therein, and a swinging,pivotal mounting therefor comprising a plurality of interconnected pivotmembers between the intermediate portion of the door and the interior ofthe recess adapted to lie in a straight line when the door is in closedposition and to be concealed wholly within the closet.

2. A closure for a wall recess, comprising an endwise swinging doorlying flush in the opening therein, and a hinge connection thereforcomprising horizontal swinging arms, each having a vertical pivotalconnection with the interior face of said door intermediately thereof,and pivot links connected to said arms and to the interior of therecess, said hinge members being adapted to lie in a straight line whenthe door is closed and to be concealed wholly within the closet.

3. A closure for a wall recess, comprising a door lying flush in theopening therein, and a hinge connection therefor comprising horizontalswinging arms, each having a vertical pivotal connection with theintebeing adapted to lie in a straight line when the door is closed.

- 4:. A closure for a wall recess, comprising an endwise swinging doorfitting flush in the opening therein, and a hinge connection thereforcomprising horizontal, swinging members each having avertical pivotalconnection with the interior face of the door intermediately thereof,pivot members connected to the interior of the closet, and intermediatemembers pivotally connected with the other members, all of said membersbeing adapted to occupy a straight line when the door is closed and tobe concealedwholly within the closet.

5. A closure for a wall recess, comprising an endwise swinging doorfitting flush in theopenin'g therein, and a pivotal mounting thereforcomprising a swinging bailshaped supporting member having a verticalportion connected with the interior face of the door and havinghorizontal arms lying parallel with said door when in closed position,swinging supporting members pivoted to the ends of the horizontal armsof said bail, and having connections with the interior of the recess,said supporting members being arranged in line with the arms of the bailwhen in closed position, and an adjustable truss-rod connected to theouter end of the upper arm of said bail and to the inner end of thelower arm thereof, whereby to adjust the fit of the door in the opening.

6. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwise swingingdoor, and a pivotal mounting therefor, said pivotal mounting including abail-shaped pivotal member having a vertical portion carried by thedoor, and arms projected horizontally therefrom, pivot links connectedto the interior of the closet, and an intermediate bail-shaped memberhaving a vertical por tion connected to the arms of said firstmentionedbail-shaped member and having short arms connected to said pivot links,and an adjustable truss-rod connected to the outer end of the upper armon said firstmentioned bail-shaped member and to the inner end of thelower arm of said member, whereby to adjust the fit of the door.

7. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwise swingingdoor fitted flush in a doorway therein, and a pivotal mounting thereforcomprising a pivotal member connected to the door at one side of thecenter thereof, a second member pivotally connected to the interior ofthe closet, and an intermediate pivotal member between said firstmentioned parts, all normally arranged in a straight line and lyingwithin the closet when the door is closed, and the intermediate memberbeing at right angles to the others whenthe door is opened a distance of90, whereby the door is fully clear of the doorway in such position.

8. A closure for wall recess or closet, comprising an endwise swingingpair of doors lying flush in the doorway thereof, strips for the outerends of said doors overlapping the doorway, a strip on one of said doorsoverlapping the other door, said strips forming stops and acting toconceal the joints between adjacent doors and between the doors anddoorway, a. yielding latch device on the last mentioned door, and apivotal mounting for each of said doors permitting a preliminary inwardmovement of the adjacent ends thereof, whereby to freethem I of thelatch device and stops and allow them to be moved outwardly to openposition.

9. A- closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwiseswinging pair of doors lying flush in the opening thereof, stops for theouter ends of eachof said doors, a stop on one of said doors overlappingthe other door, and a latch device for the other door comprising aspring-pressed member carried in the door jamb and cooperating with adepression formed in the adj acent end of the door, and a pivotalmounting for each of said doors, whereby a preliminary inward movementat their adjacent ends is required to permit them to be opened.

10. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwiseswinging door fitting fiush in adoorway therein, and a pivotal mountingfor said door having a member connected with the inner face of the doorintermediately thereof, and another member connected with the interiorof the closet, said members being arranged in a straight line when thedoor is closed, whereby the door must be swung inwardly at its endremote from the connection of the pivotal member with the closet, tofree it from the doorway and allow it to be opened.

11. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwiseswinging door fitting flush in a doorway therein, and a pivotal mountingfor said door having a member connected with the inner face of the doorintermediately thereof, and another member connected with the interiorof the closet,

, said members being arranged in a straight line when the door isclosed, whereby the door must be swung inwardly at its end remote fromthe connection of the pivotal member with the closet, to free it fromthe doorway and allow it to be opened, a strip on the outwardly movingend of the door overlapping the doorway, and a stationary stripoverlapping the inwardly moving end of the door, said strips acting toconceal the adjacent joints when the door is closed.

12. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwiseswinging pair of doors lying flush in the doorway thereof, strips on theouter ends of each of said doors overlapping the adjacent doorway, astrip on the inner end, one of said doors overlapping the other door,said strips forming stops and acting to conceal the joints betweenadjacent doors and between the doors and the doorway, and a swinging,pivotal connection for each of said doors permit ting a preliminaryinward movement of the adjacent ends of said doors, whereby to free themof the doorway and stops and allow them to be moved outwardly to openposition.

13. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising a pair of endwiseswinging doors,'- hinges for said doors which permit initial inwardmovement of the inner ends of the doors, stops between the doors andjamb, a cooperating stop between the doors, and a hidden latch for oneof said doors acting through said cooperating stop to retain both doorsclosed, and releasable by inward movement of the inner end of itsrespective door.

14.. A closure for a wall recess or closet, comprising an endwiseswinging door, hinges for said door which permit initial inward movementof one end thereof, a stationary stop engaging the inwardly moving endof the door, a stop carried by the other end of the door and engagingwith the jamb, and a yielding latch device for said door releasable whenthe latter is moved inward.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN C. BEACH.

Witnesses;

JOHN H. HERRING, W. W. HEALEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

